Timesheet Approval Settings

The Timesheet Approval Settings in ActivityTimeline provide a structured way to manage and enforce rules around time tracking and worklog approvals. These settings allow teams to configure how to lock reporting periods.

Open

Understanding Worklog Statuses

In ActivityTimeline, each worklog entry can have one of four statuses that provide insight into its current state within the approval and time-tracking workflow. These statuses help to manage and track the approval process of timesheets, especially when combined with the time-tracking period closure settings. Below is a breakdown of each status:

Status	Description	Approval State	Period State

Status	Description	Approval State	Period State
Open	This status is assigned to a worklog when it has been logged but has not yet been approved. Users can still edit or delete the worklogs (if their permissions allow).	Not Approved	Open
	This status indicates that the worklog has been logged and approved while the period is still open. If needed, people with approval authority can still disapprove an approved worklogs and change it. Users can also submit new worklogs while the period remain open, but no more changes are allowed to approved worklogs.	Approved	Open
	This status is for worklogs that have been logged and approved, but the reporting period is now closed. No further changes can be made to these logs.	Approved	Closed
	This status is assigned to worklogs that were logged but not approved by the approvers before the reporting period closed. These worklogs are final and cannot be altered.	Not Approved	Closed

1. Approval Workflow in Timesheets

This setting controls whether each work log record must go through an approval process.

• Enabled: When this option is enabled, each logged work will have the option to be approved by people with corresponding permissions (Administrator, Manager, Power Team Lead, Team Lead). This provides an additional layer of control, ensuring the accuracy and validity of the recorded time.

• Disabled (Default): When disabled, all work log records are considered final with no additional approval steps required.

2. Update approved worklogs if changed in Jira

This setting manages how changes made in Jira affect approved worklogs within ActivityTimeline.

• Enabled: If a user changes an already approved worklog in Jira, ActivityTimeline will automatically update the approved worklog record to reflect these changes.

• Disabled (Default): When disabled, changes made in Jira to an already approved worklog will not affect the approved record in ActivityTimeline. This setting is useful when maintaining a "locked" state for approved records.

3. Time Tracking Period Closure

This setting controls whether reporting periods can be closed to prevent any further modifications.

• Enabled: When enabled, users cannot add new worklogs or modify existing ones in closed reporting periods. This is essential for ensuring the integrity of time records after a period is completed.

• Disabled: When disabled, reporting periods remain open, allowing users to modify worklogs at any time.

4. Time Tracking Period

This setting defines the reporting period for time tracking and worklog approval. You can select whether the time tracking period should be set on a Monthly or Weekly basis.

• Monthly: Users will log time on a monthly basis, with the reporting period resetting at the start of each new month.

• Weekly: Users will log time on a weekly basis, with the reporting period resetting at the start of each new week.

By setting the appropriate time tracking period, you ensure that users can only log time in the most recent, open period, according to the rules defined.

5. Time Logging Grace Period

The Time Logging Grace Period setting defines how many extra days after the end of a reporting period users can still log their time. This grace period offers flexibility, allowing for late submissions without keeping the reporting period open indefinitely.

• The grace period can be configured to allow from No grace period up to +30 days after the reporting period ends.

• You can specify the exact cutoff point for logging time by selecting a combination of days and a specific time (e.g., +3 days, 12:00).

Examples:

• Monthly Period Examples:

  • If today is the 3rd of February and the Grace Period is set to at least +3 days, users will still be able to log time into January's timesheet.

  • If today is the 10th of February and the Grace Period is set to less than +10 days, users will not be able to log time into January's timesheet.

• Weekly Period Examples:

  • If today is Tuesday and the Grace Period is set to at least +2 days, users will still be able to log time into the previous week's timesheet.

  • If today is Wednesday and the Grace Period is set to less than +3 days, users will NOT be able to log time into the previous week's timesheet.